A Night to Herself
by PagetPaulson
Summary: Family's there to help.
Holding up the flash card, she pushed it closer to the little girl in front of her as she did her best to finish off her math questions. "Tell mommy what the letter is," she said sweetly, scribbling down the answer she had gotten to the question that had taken her almost ten minutes to solve.

"I don't know."

Emily looked to the brunette before her. "Of course you do," she cooed. "Think real hard."

The four year old's forehead scrunched as she did her best to think about the other letters she had already memorized.

"What comes after 'F'?"

Sighing heavily, the little girl slouched forward and grabbed onto her feet. "'G'?"

Emily put down the card, smiling wide at the little girl on the living room floor. "That's right!" She raised her hand for her daughter to give her a high five, taking her closer and kissing her cheek. "You're so smart."

"Mommy?"

"Yes baby?" Emily pushed her daughter's growing hair away from her eyes. "You ready for dinner?"

Elena quickly nodded her head, putting up her arms so her mother could pick her up from the living room floor. "What's for dinner?" she asked slowly, carefully forming her words the best she could just like her mother had taught her.

The twenty-one year old had her baby just as she was entering her senior year of high school. Right off the bat, the ambassador's daughter was doing her best to make her baby the smartest she could be. She was already beautiful, she didn't need help in that department, but it was never too early to start learning.

"We're having chicken." The excitement in her voice caused the four year old in her arms to smile. "Are you excited?"

"Yeah!"

Emily laughed into her daughter's light hair, lifting her higher in the air before setting her in her favorite pink highchair. "So what are you doing tomorrow when mommy goes to school?" she asked her daughter, walking over to the oven to check the chicken.

Brushing her hair away with her saliva covered fingers, Elena grinned. "Ms. Lily!"

"Isn't Ms. Lily so much fun?" the twenty-one year old asked, taking the pan out of the oven and setting it on the stove to let it cool down. She had skipped the recommended second year of daycare and sent her daughter right into preschool. Thankfully, the preschool teacher had understood Emily's need to continue with her schooling so if necessary, she stayed after hours to keep Elena with her until she was able to get out of school and pick her up.

Elena feverishly nodded her head. When her mother set a bowl of carrots on her highchair's table, she dragged her down by the ends of her dark hair for a kiss.

"Well thank you," Emily grinned, smoothing down the four year old's hair as she watched her daughter take a big bite of one of the carrots. "Lainy, tell mommy what your favorite color is today."

Each day had a different favorite color, animal, dancing starfish on her favorite show. Every day it was something different, just like her mommy.

The brown eyed girl munched thoughtfully on her favorite vegetable. "Yellow."

"Oh yellow's a different one," her mother mused, cutting up her daughter's chicken into the smallest bite sized pieces she could. "Why yellow?"

"Yellow is the sun's color!" Elena spoke to her mother's backside.

Emily gently nodded along with her daughter's reasoning, finishing their plates before turning and setting them both down so they could eat. "Who can argue with that logic?" she smiled. She watched as the four year old quickly gobbled up the dinner she'd made, her chin in the palm of her hand as her eyes stayed glued to every movement her daughter made. It never ceased to amaze her how fast Elena was growing up.

When a knock sounded at the door, Emily was quick to take the little girl from her highchair and rush her over to the bathroom to get her hands clean. "Be careful on the stool," she called, making her way through the apartment and opening the door.

"Princess."

Emily laughed, letting her father step over the threshold and taking her into a hug. "Daddy what are you doing here?"

Gibbs pressed a long kiss to the college girl's forehead before closing the apartment door behind them. "Decided to pop in on my baby girl," he shrugged, walking into the surprisingly clean apartment. "Is that a bad thing?"

"Of course not."

Charging from the bathroom and into the living room, Elena's face blossomed at the sight of her grandfather. "Papa!"

"Ladybug!" The NCIS agent bent down and caught the excited little girl in his arms, peppering kisses throughout her dark curls and on her cheek. "Have you been good for your mommy?"

Elena nodded, arms around her grandfather's neck. "Yes papa."

Emily smiled at the interaction, her hand running down her daughter's back. "She's been a good girl."

"Can papa watch with me, mommy?"

The twenty-one year old nodded, leading her father into their living room and putting on the television for the four year old. Every Tuesday and Thursday, just before bath time, the single mother would put on Elena's favorite educational show so she could finish the homework her professors had given her.

Sitting down with his granddaughter on the carpet in front of them, Gibbs' hand went to Emily's leg. "How are you doing in school?"

"Great," she smiled at him.

"All 'A's?"

Emily's smile tensed just a bit as she leaned back into the cushions of her couch. "I have one 'B'," she shrugged, "but it's in statistics. I'm pulling it up."

Gibbs nodded, leaning back on his daughter's couch with his hand still on her knee. Looking around the small apartment the greying man felt a swell of pride enter his chest, his heart feeling as if it beat lighter in his chest. His little girl was an adult.

"Papa look!"

The light eyed man looked to the TV, nodding along with his daughter so Elena could see they were paying attention. "Look at all those butterflies!"

"I know," the four year old said with wonder, her eyes wide.

Gibbs laughed at the look on his granddaughter's face. She looked just like his own little girl at that age. "What about a boyfriend?" he asked the twenty-one year old, his head turning just in time to see Emily's head falling back on the couch.

"Dad," she groaned. Sitting up, she shook her head. "I have no boyfriend," she laughed, running her fingers through her ponytail. "I don't have time for one."

"So...?"

The brunette rolled her eyes at the tone in her father's voice. "No S-E-X," she laughed, shoving her foot into the older man's leg. "God, I barely have time to sleep anymore let alone have someone share my bed."

Gibbs gave a firm nod of the head. "Good." He watched his granddaughter abandon the show she was watching and play with the toy truck he had gotten her for her fourth birthday. As much as they all loved the little girl, a second one wasn't necessary at the moment.

"One is enough of a handful." Emily grabbed her daughter from behind and listened to her laugh, tickling her sides as she pulled her back into her lap.

Gibbs watched the interaction with a smile. "How about I take her for a little bit?" Noticing the look on his daughter's face, his head nodded. "I can take out my little ladybug for an hour while you finish up your homework." He had seen the piles of textbooks lining the couch and the living room floor the moment he walked into the apartment.

Emily smiled wide. "Really?"

For an answer, the grey haired man stole his granddaughter from Emily and stood, the four year old on his hip. "Lainy, do you want to get ice cream with papa?"

"Yeah!" The four year old batted at his chest to make him set her down on the ground. She ran over to her mother and hugged her legs. "Bye mommy!"

Emily's nose crinkled as she laughed. "I'll see you in an hour, baby." Looking to her father, she pointed an accusing finger at him, watching him help the four year old into her jacket. "I need her back before seven-thirty, ok? She needs a bath before bed."

"You've got it." The NCIS agent waved along with his granddaughter to Emily before opening the apartment door. "Say bye to mommy."

"Bye mommy!"

The twenty-one year old sighed happily, lying back against her couch cushions to take a quick second for herself. She couldn't even think about all the things she needed to do. Wash the dishes, do the laundry, fix up the apartment and get all of the toys off of the floor, not to mention her homework that was due the next morning.

But within a minute, the single mother was fast asleep on her living room couch with her hands clutching the remote, her daughter's show in the background playing to deafened ears.


End file.
